Upon my arrival, I was a little surprised to see Kournikova out to a 5-1 lead in the first set. I had been impressed with Plischke's athletic appearance and thought she might give Kournikova a good second round match. However, as a qualifier, Plischke was already playing her fourth match of the week and had a first round main draw victory over Elena Likhovtseva under her belt. By the time I could get settled into a seat Kournikova had taken the first set 6-1 in 25 minutes.

The second set would end up being a good indication of what may have happened in the first. Plischke lost her first service game as Kournikova hit a backhand winner that landed in the corner. Kournikova would hold easily to consolidate a break showing she could hit winners from all areas of the court. Despite a double fault, Plischke held her next service game aided by two backhand unforced errors from the Russian. The fourth game was Kournikova's toughest service game. A backhand and two forehand errors gave Plischke two break opportunities to get the set back on serve. Plischke's game was not up to the challenge. Two unforced errors on her part would maintain Kournikova's one break lead at 3-1. Plischke continued to struggle on serve but being helped out by Kournikova errors along the way. As is often the case, Kournikova was just winning the key points. At break point, Plischke would hit a nice approach shot but missed the volley on Kournikova's reply. With two service breaks, the match was coming to a quick conclusion. Another quick service game gave Plischke little time to recover. Serving to stay in the match, Kournikova plugged away at Plischke's backhand and forced an error to go up 15-30. The next point Kournikova hit a nice approach shot into the corner and easily put away a forehand volley for two match points. A wide reply by Plischke to Kournikova's service return ended the match, 6-1, 6-1.

Kournikova definitely was the more consistent player today. Not unlike her physical appearance, Kournikova's tennis has a lot of style -- very clean, graceful shots. Since this was really the first time I had a good look at Kournikova's singles game, I could not quite pin down what her competitive advantage was. Her shots, while impressive today, did not strike me as ones that could do serious damage to the top echelon players. Perhaps this is why the Russian has yet to win that elusive first tournament title. She certainly has the ability to hit winners from all areas of the court and has proficiency at the net that earned her the #1 ranking in doubles last year. Kournikova next plays Ai Sugiyama, who was an interested spectator for the middle part of the second set, in the quarterfinals on Friday.

For those of you who read yesterday's match reports, you know that Seles had a thrilling tiebreak win yesterday. Showing off her famous mental strength, Seles dug deep for the straight set victory over Silvija Talaja. Seles would have to get her game face back on quickly to face Austria's Barbara Schett. Schett prepared for the match with a grueling practice with a male hitting partner yesterday afternoon.

So the question was which Seles game would show up today -- the one that overwhelmed Talaja in the first set or the one whose game just dropped off a bit to let her opponent in the match. Ultimately, both Seles's would make an appearance today. The Seles serve, unlike early in her career, is now a good indicator of where the rest of her game stands.

Seles picked up where she left off yesterday, with an immediate struggle on serve in the first game of the match. Schett's forehand was on at the start of the match and Seles quickly went down 15-40. Seles battled back to deuce and on her first game point Seles would hold serve with an ace, with Schett surrending four break points. Seles's next service game started auspiciously with a double fault, but Seles would hold with a 101mph service winner followed by her second ace of the match. Schett showed off her own strong serve on the next game with two aces and held for 2-2 with a forehand crosscourt winner. In the sixth game of the set, Schett's solid play turned soft. Schett lost the first point netting a Seles short ball, a backhand floated wide on the second point, Seles hits a forehand winner, and Schett double faults for a service break. The first set appeared to be drawing to a quick close as Seles had two aces and a service winner to go up 5-2.

The next game would be the longest of the match. Schett threw in two double faults and Seles could not convert on four set points. Seles was up 15-40 on Schett's serve but the Austrian fought back to contest five deuces. On her second game point, the players deuled in a 10+ stroke rally, including two Seles one-handed forehands. Seles would come in to the net following one of these forehands and get passed by Schett for the hold at 5-3. Serving for the first set, Seles opened with an ace. Schett earned a break point as Seles hit a short one-handed forehand that Schett followed in with a forehand winner. On the next point, Seles hit a wild serve to double fault giving Schett the break back for 5-4.

The next three service games were held and a tiebreak would settle the first set. Here is how it unfolded:

MS: 86mph ace. Seles 1-0.

BS: Seles's forehand service return long. 1-1.

BS: Seles hits a forehand long on the 4^th stroke. Schett 2-1.

MS: Seles hits a crosscourt backhand winner on the 4^th stroke. 2-2

MS: Seles hits a swinging volley just hitting the side line. Seles 3-2.

BS: Seles one-handed forehand floats wide on the 6^th shot. 3-3.

BS: 92mph ace. Schett 4-3.

MS: Seles hits a backhand behind Schett on the 3^rd stroke. 4-4.

MS: Schett nets a Seles serve. Schett starts screaming something in her native language…then just screams. Seles 5-4.

BS: Seles nets a forehand. 5-5.

BS: Schett hits a backhand long on the 5^th stroke. Seles 6-5

MS: Seles hits a forehand service return long. 6-6.

MS: Seles hits a forehand service return wide. Schett 7-6.

BS: Schett nets a backhand on the 11^th stroke of a rally that included two Seles one handed forehands. 7-7.

BS: Schett drop shots Seles. Seles gets to it, Schett nets the reply. Seles 8-7.

MS: Schett hits deep into Seles's backhand which she nets. 8-8.

MS: A Seles second serve clips the tape and just barely stays in the service box. Seles nets a backhand on the 11^th stroke of the rally. Schett 9-8.

BS: Seles hits a deep backhand into the corner that Seles in unable to get to. 9-9.

BS: Schett hits a forehand into the net on the 5^th stroke. Seles 10-9.

MS: 99mph ace. Seles 11-9.

Seles outdoes yesterday's tiebreak and won the first set in 55 minutes. Seles's last match consisted of an easy first set and a tough tiebreak second set. This match would be a mirror image of Seles's first round match. Schett had clearly expended all her mental energy in the first set and could only manage to hold serve one time (against three service breaks). Seles who only lost one point on serve in yesterday's first set, today she would lose only two points on serve in the second set.

Seles next faces Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals. Davenport's coach, Robert van't Hof, scouted today's match and clearly had seen all he needed to as he left after the first set. The match, to be played on Friday, should give a good indication of where the Seles game truly stands. With her first two matches, Seles appears to be back physically and mentally. Despite her three set victory over Jennifer Capriati in the second round, Davenport is questionable in both areas.